Private clinics are pioneers when it comes to attractive career and development opportunities.
51% of all managers in the upper management segment of Austrian private hospitals are female, according to statistics from the Association of Austrian Private Hospitals. Under the motto "Thank you for giving top performance a face", portraits of female managers from member companies will be shown as part of International Women's Day on March 8.
Two of these managers are Annette Leja, Managing Director of the private clinic Sanatorium Kettenbrücke and Dr. Anna Cavini, Medical Director of the children's and youth rehabilitation clinic kokon in Bad Erlach. They talk about the secret of the private clinics' success and the challenges they face.
The Austrian private clinics are pioneers: they can boast a female majority of 51% in collegial management, i.e. more than every second position among the administrative, nursing and medical directors is held by a woman.
"We owe this impressive quota of women to the attractive career and development opportunities that private hospitals offer their employees. At the second management level, the quota is even higher!" says a delighted Annette Leja, who has headed the Tyrolean private hospital Sanatorium Kettenbrücke for 25 years.
"My job as Managing Director is to respond as flexibly as possible to the circumstances of all my employees so that they can do their work in the best possible way. However, this particularly affects women, as they are still significantly underrepresented in many sectors, especially in higher positions," says Leja, explaining the challenges behind the secret of the private clinics' success.
Doctors: Male domain in transition
Dr. Anna Cavini, Medical Director of the newly opened children's and adolescent rehabilitation facility kokon in Bad Erlach since 2019, has asserted herself in a male-dominated field: despite the steadily increasing number of female medical students, it has so far been mainly men who have climbed to the top of the medical career ladder. But the signs are pointing to change: "The social role models that are primarily geared towards men in management positions are now slowly being broken down. In hospitals, female-connoted qualities such as empathy and communication skills are particularly needed and valued. This benefits not only superiors and colleagues, but also patients," says Cavini.
Under the motto "Thank you for giving top performance a face", the private clinics are showing portraits of female managers from member companies as part of a campaign to mark International Women's Day on March 8.
About the association
The Association of Austrian Private Hospitals has represented the interests of legal entities of private hospitals since 1953 and has its own collective bargaining capacity. It represents one of the main pillars of the Austrian healthcare system.
Further information can be found at www.privatkrankenanstalten.at
Queries
Elena Reghenzani, BA
PR Officer Association of Austrian Private Hospitals
e.reghenzani@privatkrankenanstalten.at
+ 43 660 358 826 0
